Alfredo James Pacino may have been born in East Harlem New York, but he's the son of two Italian-American parents. The actor has gone on to star as numerous characters of the same heritage, sometimes even winning a cavalcade of awards in the process.
Time will tell if this award-winning success applies to his role as Aldo Gucci in House of Gucci, but there's no better time to look back at some of his other Italian roles, some of which are also based on real-life figures.
Tony D'Amato: Any Given Sunday (1999)
Oliver Stone's Any Given Sunday was an all-star football film featuring the likes of Dennis Quaid, Cameron Diaz, LL Cool J, James Woods, Charlton Heston, and Elizabeth Berkley. It follows the ebbs and flows of being a former champion with the Miami Sharks. Then, when a potential star enters the mix, he proves to be a mixed bag of success and ego.
Pacino played head coach Anthony "Tony" D'Amato. A seasoned professional of the game, he's paid the price of success when it comes to his home life. His wife and children are no longer in his life and every moment he's not working he's asleep. It's a fine lead character, but the most interesting arc in Any Given Sunday is Jamie Foxx's "Steamin" Willie Beamen.
Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice: Dick Tracy (1990)
This big-budget comic strip adaptation was also viewed by quite a few as one of Al Pacino's best comedies. While Pacino does have a major villainous role, the movie is actor/director/producer Warren Beatty's.
The actor plays Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice, the head crime boss of the film's unnamed city. Like many of the film's other villainous characters, Caprice is laced in impressive (but distinctly uncomfortable looking) makeup. This does make it fun to spot some big names such as James Caan, William Forsythe, and Paul Sorvino.
Aldo Gucci: House Of Gucci (2021)
Ridley Scott's House of Gucci, based on the book of the same name by Sara Gay Forden, is a heavily dramatized look at the Gucci empire. Specifically, the murder of Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver), as orchestrated by Patrizia Reggiani (Lady Gaga).
Pacino plays Aldo Gucci, father of Paolo (Jared Leto) and uncle to Maurizio. Aldo was essentially the reason Maurizio rose as high as he did in Gucci. Both the book and the movie make it clear that Aldo had affection for his nephew, which makes the treatment he ultimately received in return all the more baffling.
Carlito "Charlie" Brigante: Carlito's Way (1993)
One of Al Pacino's best 90s movies, Brian De Palma's Carlito's Way, is a Pacino showcase through and through. While the unacquainted could be forgiven for looking at the poster and thinking it's a copy of Scarface, Carlito Brigante and Tony Montana couldn't be any more different.
Brigante is a man firmly positioned in the crime life. What he really wants is an ounce of stability and a life with Gail (Penelope Ann Miller), whereas Montana embraced instability and mistook constant pleasures for success. The protagonist of Carlito's Way is more like an honest version of Michael Corleone, who once screamed about constantly getting pulled back into the crime life. However, as opposed to the firmly planted Corleone, Brigante had actually been out and legitimately was pulled back in further and further by David Kleinfeld (Sean Penn) and Benny Blanco (John Leguizamo).
Benjamin "Lefty" Ruggiero: Donnie Brasco (1997)
This wildly underrated Pacino movie was the story of Joseph Pistone (Johnny Depp), an undercover FBI agent who infiltrated a significant crime family. To do so, he inhabits the role of jewel thief Donnie Brasco. Before long, he's befriended one of the family's hitmen and learns how difficult it can be to befriend someone you know will fall.
Pacino plays the hitman, Lefty Ruggiero. The actor's palpable chemistry with Depp helps ensure that the movie clicks at a surefire pace. It also makes the inevitable conclusion even more devastating. Whereas some mob films and series can prove overwhelming, Donnie Brasco is very streamlined and digestible even for those who find the subgenre uninteresting.
Frank Serpico: Serpico (1973)
It's not a character detail the movie discusses much, but Frank Serpico was born to Italian immigrants. Serpico was a detective with the New York City Police Department whose fellow officers attempted to lure him into a world of theft and corruption. Instead, Serpico began a longtime battle against such actions that risked not only his career, but his life.
Pacino is outright intense in Serpico, and his powerhouse performance has been parodied in shows like It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Were it not for Tony Montana and a few other monumental roles, Serpico would be Pacino's career-defining role.
Sonny Wortzik: Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
Real-life bank robber John Wojtowicz was born to a Polish father and a mother of Italian descent. Dog Day Afternoon shows one of the worst heists in movie history, and the likability of Pacino's Sonny Wortzik makes the audience wish it would go better.
Wortzik's motives (like Wojtowicz) are based on love, not greed, and Dog Day Afternoon shows how far he'll go for that love. The movie is one of the best showcases for Pacino's range. There's the soft-spoken variation found in many of his other earlier films as well as the bombast of Tony Montana as he stands outside of the bank screaming "Attica! Attica!"
Michael Corleone: The Godfather (1972) & The Godfather Part II (1974)
Pacino played the iconic role of Michael Corleone in three films, but really there are two that are noteworthy. As a character, it's tough to say which film features a more interesting version of Michael Corleone. In The Godfather he's a soft-spoken man who does not want to follow in his father's footsteps. Not as a means of disrespecting Don Corleone, but rather as a general preference for the American lifestyle. By the movie's end, he's stepped into his father's shoes, but it's in the sequel where he crosses a very specific line.
In The Godfather Part II, Michael has Fredo killed. It's a massive moment in cinema history for good reason: it's absolutely devastating. Impeccably shot, the murder is capped by a beautiful image of Michael behind a plateglass window, solemnly hanging his head.